


Family Values

by Ambs_Writes



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Established Penelope/Lizzie, F/F, Gen, OC Hosie's kids, OC children - Freeform, Slow Burn, Slow Burn Hope/Josie, Slow Burn Penelope/Lizzie, Time Travel, and the mikaelson family, anyway, but they don't play super huge roles, established Hope/Josie, the old 'our kids are in danger so let's send them to the past' trope, the rest of the super squad is here too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:42:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22236547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambs_Writes/pseuds/Ambs_Writes
Summary: After twenty years of domestic bliss, the Mikaelson family is threatened once again. To protect their kids from a deadly prophecy, Hope and Josie use a spell to send the twins back in time where they'll be safe from the prophecy that hands over them. That was the plan anyway, but things don't always go according to plan. No matter what, the twins know that they'll do anything for family. Including helping their mothers fall in love with each other.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Lizzie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson & Penelope Park, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Josie Saltzman & Lizzie Saltzman, Penelope Park/Lizzie Saltzman
Comments: 11
Kudos: 73





	Family Values

“I still don’t like this plan.” Josie Mikaelson twisted her wedding ring around on her finger as she approached her wife. Hope had her back to her, eyes focused on the almost complete painting sitting the easel in front of her. Stress painting, Josie knew. It was almost funny how little things had changed over the past twenty-five years since they got together, twenty since they married. 

“I don’t either,” Hope set the paintbrush down and stepped back into Josie’s arms. “But it will work.” 

“They’ll be safe.” Josie wrapped her arms around Hope’s waist and set her chin on Hope’s shoulder. 

“And they’ll be back soon,” Hope covered Josie’s hands with her own and laced their fingers together. They gazed at the painting for a moment, a portrait of their family modeled after one of Hope’s favorite photographs of them. 

In the painting, Hope and Josie are sitting together on a lounge seat next to a pool. Josie was in the process of kissing Hope’s cheek and Hope was laughing. In front of them, in the water, two kids were in the middle of sending a wave of water at their parents. Hayley, the eldest twin and the spitting image of Hope except for the brown color of her eyes and lighter hair, worked together with Eli who had inherited Josie’s tall frame and Hope’s red-tinted hair to soak their mothers. The painting captured the rippling in the water as the twins hands passed through it and the way the sunlight had glinted off their wet skin. There was a small glint of gold on Hope’s finger that mirrored the one on Josie’s left hand. Hope’s smile was wide and full, and the smallest hint of Josie’s dimple showed as she smiled against Hope’s cheek. It was a simple family moment that had been brought to life under Hope’s careful hand. 

“This is beautiful,” Josie whispered softly, mirroring her painted-self as she kissed Hope’s cheek. 

“Thanks,” Hope squeezed her hand. She was quiet for a moment and Josie knew her well enough to wait as Hope gathered her thoughts and resist the temptation to press against their bond. Hope always tended to shut Josie out when she was stress painting and so Josie waited patiently for her wife to open her side of the bond again. She didn’t have to wait long for the connection to open and then Josie could feel her wife’s worry mixing with her own. “Are we sure we want to do this?” 

“No,” Josie untangled their fingers and gently gripped Hope’s hips to turn her around. Once face to face, Josie cupped Hope’s face with one hand, the other still gripping her waist. “But we’re sure this will work. We’re sure this will keep them safe.” 

Hope nodded, shuffling closer to Josie and tucking her head beneath Josie’s chin. Josie did her best to send ressuring emotions to Hope, but she was just as worried. It’s not everyday you send your 15 year old twins to the past to protect them from a deadly prophecy. Hope pressed a kiss against Josie’s neck. 

“You don’t have to pretend you aren’t worried, too. I know you are.” Hope kissed Josie’s neck again. 

“Of course I’m worried, but not just about the kids.” Josie pulled away a bit so she could look Hope in the eyes. “I’m worried about you, too. This spell is massive, and you have to cast it more than once.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Hope played with the ends of Josie’s hair, “I’ll have you, and Lizzie, and Aunt Freya and Aunt Davina to help me.” Hope didn’t say that even with the extra power boost, the spell would probably drain her magical reserves which isn’t exactly ideal given the situation but she knew Josie was already aware of that. Best case scenario, the spell works fine and they get right to work making it safe for the kids to come home. Worst case scenario, well, it was best not to think about that. 

"I still worry, that's part of my job as your wife." Josie stroked her fingers through Hope's soft hair and kissed the side of her head. 

"I love you." Hope said as she pulled back again. Josie smiled softly at her. 

"I love you." Josie closed the distance between their lips, kissing her wife softly. She felt Hope's fingers curl around her hips and pull her closer, but they both refrained from deepening the kiss. Which turned out to be a good idea as a just a few moments later, 

"Gross," Eli spoke from the doorway to his mom's art studio, Hayley beside him making exaggerated gagging noises. "Can't you guys get a room for that stuff?" 

"We had one until you came in." Josie teased as she pulled away from her wife to look at their kids. Eli and Hayley came fully into the room with their mothers. 

"You're all packed up?" Hope asked. Her fingers found a wrinkle on Hayley's jacket and she smoothed it out for her. 

"Yeah," Hayley gripped the strap of her backpack that hung from the shoulder Hope wasn't busy smoothing wrinkles from. "I've got the essentials." 

"Good," Josie took Hope's hand to make her stop fussing with Hayley's jacket before she pulled Eli into a side hug. "And you?" 

"I got everything you said to pack," Eli shrugged, ducking out of the way when Josie reached to mess up his hair. 

"And probably a few things we told you not to pack." Hope rolled her eyes at Eli's sheepish smile. He definitely got that from Josie. 

"Now we wait?" Eli asked. Hope and Josie nodded. 

"Not for long, just until midnight." Hope checked her watch. They had thirty minutes to get to the room where they would perform the spell. 

"Are you sure can't stay here? We could help." Hayley's argument was more than familiar. She'd said the same thing every day since they decided on this plan. 

"It's too dangerous." Josie's rebuttal was equally expected. "But you won't be gone long." 

"And you're both coming to pick us up?" Eli's question was directed at Hope, his gaze steady but a hint of fear in his eyes. He knew the prophecy. He knew his mother was in just as much danger as he and his twin. Hope and Josie shared a look, Josie squeezed Hope's hand. 

"Right," Hope said. "We'll both be there." 

She prayed that it wasn’t a lie. In the back of her mind, Hope could feel Josie’s reassuring presence through their link and she leaned a little closer to her wife. 

_‘It won’t be a lie,’_ Josie’s voice whispered into Hope’s mind. _‘I won’t let anything happen to you.’_

_‘You can’t promise that, Josie.’_ Hope replied mentally while verbally directing her children to the large couch along the back wall of the room where the family of four sat down together. She looked at Josie over the twins’ heads as they snuggled close to them. _‘The prophecy said-’_

_‘I know, but you know I won’t give you up without a fight. Not now. Not ever.’_

“Things must really be bad if you guys are talking mentally instead of out loud.” Hayley said in a half-joking tone that snapped her moms out of their mental conversation. 

“Sorry, kid,” Hope rubbed Hayley’s back as she leaned against her. She didn’t deny that it was a bad situation. It was pointless to try. Hope and Josie had agreed to be honest with their children if there ever came a time that they were in danger. 

Hayley shrugged and turned her head to the side, placing her ear over Hope’s heart. Hope smiled down at her and continued rubbing her back as Hayley spoke, “The spell won’t hurt, right?” 

“Not at all,” Josie answered from her spot on the other side of Hayley and Eli, Eli’s head resting against her shoulder. “It’ll be really bright, but going through won’t hurt you at all.” 

“What about Momma? Will it hurt you?” Eli twisted a bit to look at Hope. 

“No more than any other powerful spell I cast.” 

“In other words, yes.” Hayley pushed closer to Hope. 

“I’ll be fine, little ones. Your mom will make sure of it.” Hope glanced over at Josie who offered her a small reassuring smile. 

“Yes, I will.” Josie squeezed Eli’s shoulders. “And we’ll both make sure nothing happens to the two of you.” 

“Always and forever.” Hayley and Eli speak at the same time and the words bring tears to Hope’s eyes. She pulls both of her children into her arms and hugs them tightly. Josie moves over and wraps her arms around them as well, one hand slipping into Hope’s hair and playing with the small curls on the back of her neck. 

“We love you guys.” Josie said as she kissed the top of Eli’s head. 

“More than anything.” Hope did the same to Hayley, rubbing Eli’s back at the same time. 

“We love you too.” The twins spoke at the same time once again and stayed in their mother’s embrace until a knock from the doorway drew the family’s attention away from one another. 

Freya stood in the doorway, smiling sadly at her niece and her family. Hope looked at her aunt and nodded when their eyes met. 

“It’s time.” Freya nodded back at her niece and then left the room just as quietly as she had appeared. 

“I guess it’s time then,” Eli joked softly as he stood up, adjusting his backpack on his shoulders. Hayley stood with him and they moved to the door to wait for their moms. Josie slid her hand along Hope’s back and then down her arm until their hands linked together. Hope squeezed Josie’s hand once and they stood together to follow their children out their door. 

Downstairs, their family waited for them in the courtyard of the Mikaelson New Orleans home. It was oddly crowded for this time of year, normally the kids would be at school, Rebekah and Marcel in New York, Kol and Davina in Las Angeles and Hope and Josie in Mystic Falls, though they didn’t live on the Salvator school campus anymore. That left just Freya and Keelin in New Orleans full time these days, and their son Nik. Lizzie and Penelope were there too, irregular visitors to New Orleans in general, but they and their kids had made the trip there as well. Isobel, Amelia and Lucas, Lizzie and Penelope’s kids, would be there for moral support, neither their mothers or their aunts willing to to let them help with the spell. They were too young, especially little Lucas. And they weren’t targeted the same way Hayley and Eli were, since they weren’t twins. The prophecy was very specific about that. 

“Can you guys stop staring at us?” Hayley said as she lead the way down the stairs and moved to stand next to Isobel. The cousins were the best of friends, the one person who knew Hayley better was Eli. “It’s creepy.” 

“Sorry,” Isobel apologized, smiling warmly at her aunts as they passed the two girls on their way to Lizzie and Penelope. Once Hope and Josie were far enough away, not that it mattered with their supernatural hearing, Isobel continued speaking. “Are you nervous?” 

“Of course not,” Hayley said immediately, her cousin immediately seeing through the facade. “Okay, yes, incredibly so. But everything is going to be fine. Moms wouldn’t let anything happen to us.” 

“You better not mess up our future while you’re gone,” Isobel warned, half jokingly. “If you come back and we aren’t cousins anymore, I’m disowning you from the family.” 

“I’m not the one who would mess anything up,” Hayley pointedly looked at her brother’s backpack, which she knew was full of the spellbooks he used for all his pranks. Eli grinned at the girls when he noticed them looking at him before turning his attention to Lucas who was currently trying to climb Eli like a tree so he could sit on his shoulders. “But we’ll be careful. Momma and Mom put a note in my bag that’s supposed to explain everything.” 

“Good,” Isobel pulled her cousin into a hug, not trusting herself to say anything else. They both knew that Isobel would switch places with her cousin in a heartbeat if she could, or that she’d join them in their journey to the past. Neither were feasible options. 

“Don’t be so worried, cuz,” Eli said as he approached the girls with his best friend, Jay. Hayley felt a little bad that she hadn’t noticed that Jay was there earlier, but it made sense. Outside of their family, Jay was their most trusted friend, the third member of their pack. “We’ll be fine.” 

All three of the teenagers present could see through Eli’s good humor facade but none of them commented on it. Eli always made a joke of things, especially when it came to threats to their family. He said it made things easier to deal with, if he could laugh about it. 

“It’s time.” When Hayley and Eli turned towards their moms, Hope was looking towards the sky and studying the image of the moon. They had a small window of time to do the spell, it had to be now. 

“Are you both ready?” Josie asked, looking at her children closely. Hayley and Eli nodded and made their way over to their moms, hugging both of them tightly before moving to stand just behind Hope. “Okay, let’s do this.” 

Lizzie, Freya and Davia separated from their respective partners and made their way over to Hope and Josie. Penelope moved a little closer as well, ready to offer her own magic in case Hope needed the extra push. Josie and Hope clasped hands and red magic swirled around where their skin touched. Freya stepped up and took Josie’s other hand, closing her eyes as her magic was siphoned out of her. Lizzie took Hopes other hand and Davina took Lizzie’s as Hope began to chant. 

The air in the room began to circulate, the magic forcing a powerful wind to sweep through the room. Hope’s voice grew steadily louder as the spell grew, dimming the lights around them. Lucas ran to Penelope as the room became darker and darker, taking refuge in his mom’s arms as Freya and Davina began to let out little gasps of pain. Just before the gasps became cries, Josie and Lizzie released the older women’s hands. Davina moved away from them on shaking legs, immediately aided by Kol. Freya collapsed into Keelin’s waiting arms and was pulled away from the heart of the room as an impossibly bright light began to shine. 

“Kids, get ready,” Josie called as Lizzie let go of Hope’s hand and was helped to the side by Rebekah. Hope’s eyes had turned pitch black and blood poured from her nose as she pulled on her magic reserves. Josie let go of her wife’s hand just as her own nose started to bleed and the light grew too bright to look into. “Go, now!” 

Hayley and Eli didn’t have time to waste, even if they wanted to take another look at their family. Taking his sister by the hand, Eli pulled them both through the light. The last thing he saw as the powerful spell took hold was his momma, bleeding from the nose and ears but telling him to go. Eli steeled his nerves and allowed the light to surround him and carry him away. 

The light disappeared in a second, leaving a resounding shockwave that would have knocked Hope over is she hadn’t already been in the process of collapsing. Josie tried to catch her wife but exhausting had taken hold of her too and she had to be caught by Penelope and Lizzie before she collapsed completely. Marcel used his vamp speed to catch Hope before she hit the ground and shielded her from the shockwave left by the spell. Hope was still bleeding, but the flow had slowed down. 

“We should get them upstairs,” Marcel said as he lifted his adoptive sister into his arms. Kol followed him, carrying Josie with a gentleness that would shock anyone not related to the man. They settled the couple in the room that they normally occupied when visiting New Orleans and stepped back as they drifted closer together on the bed. As soon as their hands met, their healing process sped up and it would be a matter of minutes before they woke up instead of hours. Until then, the Mikaelson family could only wait and hope that the spell had worked. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Look I don't know where this came from but here we are. I was really trying to wait on this until after I finished TVD and rewatched TO but the plotbunny would not leave me alone. Hope you liked it and I'll see you on the next one!


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